Relationship between an abrupt drought-flood transition over mid-low reaches of the Yangtze River in 2011 and the intraseasonal oscillation over mid-high latitudes of East Asia

NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis data and Chinese daily gridded precipitation data are used to study the relationship between an aprupt drought-flood transition over the mid-low reaches of the Yangtze River in 2011 and the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO; 30–60 days) in the mid-high latitude meridional circulation of the upper troposphere over East Asia. The abrupt transition from drought to flood occurs in early June. The first two recovered fields of the complex empirical orthogonal function show that northward-propagating westerlies from low latitudes converge with southward-propagating westerlies from high latitudes over the mid-low reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR) in mid-late May. The timing of this convergence corresponds to the flood period in early-mid June. The ISO index is significantly and positively correlated with rainfall over the MLRYR. During the dry phase (before the transition), the upper troposphere over the MLRYR is characterized by cyclonic flow, easterly winds, and convergence. The regional circulation is dominated by a wave train with a cyclone over east of Lake Baikal, an anticyclone over northern China, and a cyclone over the MLRYR. During the wet phase, the situation is reversed. The configuration of the wave train during the dry phase favors the southward propagation of westerly wind disturbances, while the configuration of the wave train during the wet phase favors the development and maintenance of a pumping effect and sustained ascending motions over the MLRYR.